Of Gods and Detectives
by Marwana
Summary: Loki has escaped from his cell in Asgard. Tony finds a young detective by the name of Loki in Japan. It's up to Thor to see if that truly is the one he calls 'brother'.


_I was watching Mythical Detective Loki a while ago and wondered why no one ever dis something with the fact that they are both the same Norse god?_  
_So... I wrote this. This is a mix of Avengers' Loki, Mythical Detective Loki Loki and the Norse mythology Loki._

_**Warnings**: language, OOCness (but we can't escape that...)  
_

_**Disclaimer**: Not mine._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Of Detectives and Gods**

_":Thoughts:"_

**oOoOoOo  
**  
It had been peaceful ever since the Avengers had defeated Loki. New York needed to be rebuild so most people were concentrating all their attention and effort on that and most heavy criminals from other states kept to themselves in fear of drawing the attention of the Avengers.

Tony had to admit that it was all very boring. Sure he had made some new suits, he had helped out with the rebuilding of New York and his tower and he had gone on some dates with Pepper but he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.

He had changed ever since he had fallen back to Earth and his near death experience and he needed to be busy to keep from freaking out. So being bored was not something he enjoyed.

He drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him as he studied the data of the forty-something-th suit but he didn't change anything actively. He just stared at it.  
"I'm quite sure that staring at it won't make it work, sir," Jarvis' voice sounded.  
He just grunted in reply before he sighed in both boredom and despair.  
"Maybe helping doctor Banner out with his research will help you with your boredom," Jarvis stated.  
He grunted again even as he started to fiddle with something – he wasn't paying enough attention to it to notice what it was – laying on his desk.

He didn't know how long he spent fiddling with it, nor did he hear any of Jarvis' comments as he lost himself in his already dark thoughts.  
But he did hear the sound of his door sliding open and the sound of heavy shoes on the floor.  
He placed whatever he had been fiddling with down and turned his chair around towards the owner of said shoes.  
"Can I help you with something?" he asked almost eagerly.

Steve – for he had been the one who had interrupted his thoughts – shot him a somewhat disturbed and somewhat worried look at his complete out of character question before he answered.  
"Thor just arrived," he told him even as he looked around the lab, "he is… distraught."  
Tony almost gaped in surprise but he managed to contain it, "_distraught_?"  
"You better come with me," Steve said as he finally turned his attention towards him, "he told me he has some bad news."

"Do we need to worry about another army from outer space?" Tony asked dryly, "because in that case someone else can throw the nuke into the portal."  
Steve shot him a flat look, "I've already asked Jarvis to gather the rest on Thor's request."  
Tony raised his hand in mock surrender, "alright, alright hold your horses! I'm coming."  
Steve looked vaguely confused at his words before he seemed to shake the confusion away, gave him a sharp nod and left his lab.

Tony turned his chair back around, "why didn't you tell me that Thor had arrived?"  
"I did tell you sir," Jarvis told him almost crisply, "but you didn't seem to hear me."  
Tony sighed, "any idea what Thor has to tell us?"  
"He wouldn't tell Captain Rogers until everyone had assembled," Jarvis said.  
"Figures," Tony said dryly before he rose and walked towards the exit of his lab, "let's find out, shall we?"

**oOo  
**  
"Loki has disappeared from his cell," Thor said loudly as soon as everyone had turned their attention to him.  
"What do you mean 'Loki has disappeared from his cell'?" Fury demanded to know, "you vowed that he would never come free ever again when you took him with you!"  
"We don't know how he did it," Thor admitted almost sheepishly, "we've searched everywhere for clues as to how he got out and we have searched all the possible places he could have gotten to but we can't find him."

"Is he harmless?" Bruce asked worried.  
"His seiðr – magic – has been bound," Thor said, "mostly. And we are quite sure that he'll not come to Midga- _Earth_."  
"What do you mean 'mostly'?" Steve wanted to know.  
"He _begged_ the All-Father for a small amount of magic so he could keep his Æsir form," Thor said confused as if he wasn't sure what was strange about the request, "father agreed and left him with just enough magic that he would appear as he had before."

Tony rose from the couch he had seated himself on and made his way over towards the bar. He took a glass, a bottle of scotch and poured himself a healthy amount before he threw it back in one single gulp.  
"Are you sure that _that_ was the reason why he wanted to keep his magic?" Tony asked as he placed his glass back down and turned towards Thor, "because according to the stories we have about your lot Loki is the _Liesmith_ and known to be cunning and sly."

Thor swelled up in what appeared to be anger, "of course we were sure! The All-Father made sure that he could do nothing else with his magic! And there were wards around his cell to make sure that he couldn't use his magic beyond what was allowed."  
"What kind of surveillance did he have?" Fury wanted to know.  
"There were wards and guards," Thor told him, "the wards made sure that Loki couldn't get away on any way, shape or form and that no one could come close who wanted to help him get out. The guards were there as an extra precaution."

"Then how did he get out?" Natasha asked blandly.  
"We truly don't know," Thor repeated helplessly.

"The question that should be asked is: are you truly sure that Loki would not come back here?" Bruce asked as he clenched his fists in an attempt to calm himself.  
Thor opened his mouth to answer before he closed it again. He seemed to consider before he opened his mouth again.  
"I don't know," he admitted softly, "I thought that I knew him and how he thought but it appears as if I've never known. The Loki I thought I knew would never return to a spot that holds bad memories."

"And the Loki you do not know?" Tony deadpanned as he absently called one of his many screens down and called up everything known about Loki. It didn't take long before an image of the smirking god could be seen on a separate screen.

"So he might be here?" Clint asked with narrowed eyes as he glared at the image.  
"He would consider it to be the smartest place to hide," Natasha said blandly, "as Tony said: he is sly and cunning. He would have taken the fact that you thought you knew him in account."  
"First of all: it is creepy that you can think like old Reindeer Games," Tony said as he called up some of the stories about Loki he had looked up after the Avengers had saved New York, "by the way: did Loki really give birth to an eight-legged horse?"

Thor looked completely perplexed.  
"Never mind that," Fury said as he crossed his arms, "what is important however is the fact that Loki has escaped from a prison he shouldn't be able to escape from and that he is now somewhere on Earth."  
"Yes, that is somewhat troublesome," Tony admitted absently as he continued typing on his screen.

"Natasha, Clint, where do you think he is?" Fury wanted to know.  
The assassin and the archer shared looks.  
"I would hide in plain side if I were him," Natasha said after a short while, "and somewhere close by."  
Steve frowned, "but if he is truly as cunning as you say he is – and I would like to add that he wasn't as sly or cunning the last time we had to face him – wouldn't he want you to think that?"  
"He lacked conviction the last time we had to face him," Clint pointed out though dark hatred coloured his words.

"Thor, what can you tell us about Loki?" Bruce asked.  
Thor hesitated for a moment before he said, "Loki is a shape shifter who likes to cause mischief and chaos. He is one of the jötunn by birth but my father shared blood with him, making Loki both his child – as he raised him – and his blood-brother. He is the god of fire and the sky and he is a known trickster. He is a wordsmith who can both mediate and provoke people."  
"That's what the myths said as well," Tony said absently as he hesitated for a bit before he entered the name in Google.

"Any particular talents we should know about?" Natasha asked, "besides the fact that he is a shape shifter?"  
"He can use seiðr – _magic_ – and he is quite a proficient fighter with a staff and small knifes," Thor said, "but he can fight with bow and arrow, swords and his hands."  
Natasha opened her mouth to ask another question but Tony interrupted her.

"Strange question Thor: does this look like Loki to you?" he asked as he enlarged a picture of a small boy with reddish brown hair and a pair of big emerald eyes which seemed too old and too wise for his age and placed it on a screen next to the picture of the dark-haired god. He was wearing black shorts, a white shirt, black boots and a black trench coat. The collars were sticking out from underneath his coat and he wore a large, white bow around his neck.  
The others turned to look at the picture as well.

"Who is he?" Steve asked curious.  
"His name, apparently, is Loki, no last name mentioned," Tony said as he scanned the page, "he is the owner of Enjaku Detective Agency. The building listed as the agency also seems to be his residence. He has one servant by the name of Yamino Ryusuke."  
He enlarged another image and sent it to a third screen. This time it showed a young man in his late teens or early twenties with forest green hair and teal coloured eyes. His skin was pale and he wore large, round glasses. He was wearing a blue suit with a white undershirt. A small red bow was used instead of buttons to keep his shirt closed.  
"He also has a small, black dog by the name of 'Fenrir'," Tony finished as he threw the picture to yet another screen.

"Where does he live?" Bruce asked, "and how old is he?"  
"Japan," Tony said after a while, "and I can't find an age, a date of birth or even the names of his parents. The same can be said about his servant."  
"You think he's our escaped convict?" Fury asked as he studied the pictures of the boy Loki and the man Loki.  
"Everything seems to point to that," Tony said as he enlarged something on the site and showed it to the others, "except this. These photos are posted some time before the invasion of the Chitauri and this site shows quite some cases he solved. Some were solved during the battle of New York."

"Loki can duplicate himself, can't he?" Clint asked as he studied the young boy, "so can't he be in two places at the same time?"  
Everyone turned towards Thor.  
"I don't know," Thor said uncomfortably, "seiðr is not something a male should practice."

"I suggest you visit this 'detective'," Fury said as he turned to look at them, his arms behind his back, "agent Romanov and Thor, the two of you should show yourself to him. Agent Barton, I want you with them as back-up. Mr Stark I need you to keep an eye on the suspect via CCTV – or whatever version Japan has."  
"Sir," the two agents said before they both left. Thor stared a bit longer at the picture of his brother before he took left.

**oOoOoOo  
**  
Thor looked around in curiosity as soon as they landed. It didn't seem to be that different from the few human places he had seen so far. The only major difference was the dominant race.  
They were both dressed as inconspicuous as possible – she in a red summer dress and flats with a matching bag and he in jeans and a white shirt – but their height, their eyes and their hair still stuck out like a sore thumb.

"According to Stark the boy lives just two blocks away," Natasha said as she removed her finger away from her ear, "let's go."  
Thor quickly followed after her, though he kept looking around.

They walked for about ten minutes before Black Widow came to a halt in front of a large, old house surrounded by an iron fence.  
"It's here," she said as she studied the front gate.  
"There seems to be no one here," Thor said softly.

Natasha raised her hand to shush him as she looked around.  
Thor waited in silence for a short while – patience had never been his strong suit – and he was about to repeat his words when a teenage girl with pink hair and brown eyes skipped towards them. She was wearing what appeared to be a school uniform and she carried a bag in her hands.  
She stopped as soon as she saw them and asked them something enthusiastically in a language he couldn't understand.  
He had never bothered to learn any other language than the ones needed and the one the girl spoke wasn't one he recognized. Loki and his mother had always been the ones who learned the languages he and his father needed.

Natasha, luckily enough, seemed to know what the girl was asking as she answered in the same language. The girl said something else before Natasha turned towards him. He did recognize the word – or name – 'Loki', though.  
"Her name is Mayura Daidouji. She will bring us to this Loki," Natasha told him flatly, "she seems to be under the impression that we are here because we need a detective."  
Thor pondered a bit over here words – as he still wasn't completely up to date with the modern way of speaking – before he nodded that he understood.

He didn't like the fact that he had to follow someone. Normally he was the one leading but he understood that he was the most likely person to recognize Loki. And he was really incapable of making out what the girl was saying.  
So he followed her and the girl like a foal followed its mother as the girl walked past them and opened the gate to let them onto the terrain.

Natasha asked – at least he _thought_ that he asked – the girl something which made the girl stop in her tracks and take on a thinking pose with a small meowing-sound.  
She answered after a couple of seconds and they continued walking until they reached the door.  
Thor desperately wanted to ask what she had asked her but didn't get the chance as the girl threw the door open and gestured for them to come inside. They stepped past her into a large, almost empty hallway.

She followed after them and shouted something to whoever was inside the house as she closed the door.  
They followed her in silence as she walked past them into yet another hallway and up the stairs.  
She guided them into a large room filled with a couple of bookcases, a large desk in front of couple of French windows, a couple of couches around a rectangular table and a small side table near the wall.  
But Thor didn't really pay attention to the surrounding as all of his attention was on the figure seated in the chair behind the desk with a small, black dog sleeping on his lap and a weird pink thing resting on his head.

The boy looked exactly like he had on the picture – he didn't seem to have aged at all – and Thor couldn't help but compare the boy to the memories he had of his Loki as a child.  
They did have some similarities but there were more differences. He was almost convinced that this was someone else entirely, were it not for the child's eyes. Those eyes were exactly like he remembered Loki's eyes to be. The same colour, the same shape and the same sardonic, cynical, cold, amused look he knew from his brother. And those eyes showed an ancient wisdom he knew a lot of people would have misread as the suffering of a lonely child. Though, he guessed that after everything he had heard his brother had been a lonely, suffering child. If he could believe the words his brother had shouted at him.

The boy glanced at them before he raised a questioning eyebrow at the girl and asked her something.  
She answered enthusiastically as she pointed at the two of them. The boy shot her a half irritated, half fond look before he turned towards them.  
Thor blinked at the look as he was more than aware of his Loki's dislike of human beings. This Loki seemed to enjoy the girl's company and she was most definitely human.

Natasha took a step forward and said something – which included her strange temporary name of Natalie Rushman – with a small bow before she turned back to Thor and introduced him by his own, full name. He hadn't understood why she would have to take on a new name when she had the one her parents had given her but he would probably never understand the habit the mortals had. Understanding those not from Asgard had, after all, always been Loki's forte.

Thor looked closely at those familiar eyes to catch whatever reaction the boy had. But – as he had suspected – the boy's eyes didn't betray what he was feeling. His Loki had been the master of masking his emotions and it seemed that this Loki seemed to be able to do the same thing.  
The young detective studied him briefly before he turned his attention back to the female agent by his side and asked her something.  
She answered something with a gesture towards him.

"In that case let me repeat my question in English," the boy said softly and Thor stiffened slightly at the high and innocent but still deceptively silky smooth voice. He spoke with nearly no accent and the accent he vaguely could hear was faintly British.  
"What can I do for you?" he asked softly as he petted the small dog – who had awoken sometime during the introduction and who had raised its head curiously with a soft bark.  
"We are looking for someone," Natasha told him.  
"And why do you think I can help you?" the child asked her curious as he relaxed back in his chair in an almost regal manner.  
The weird pink thing looked up and made a soft 'punyan' sound and the child raised his free hand and petted it lightly before he dropped his hand again.

Natasha followed his hand with some confusion before she seemed to zone in on the boy's face again.  
Thor noticed the amused look on Loki's face.

A soft knock sounded and the child called out something in that strange language. The door opened and a young man – the servant the man of iron had shown them – entered with a serving platter in his hands.  
He said something in a soft, reverent tone and he walked towards them. He stiffened and his speed picked up as he came close to them, almost as if he was afraid of them. He quickly handed the child his tea and a large plate with sandwiches with shaking hands before he turned towards the girl and handed her a similar cup of tea and a smaller plate with cookies. He didn't offer them anything and he bowed lowly towards Loki before he almost dashed out of the room as soon as he was done.  
Thor wondered if it was normal for a Midgardian servant to act the way he had but the confused look on the girl's face answered his question.

The boy's gaze remained trained on the man and afterwards on the closed door for a little while, an unreadable look in his eyes, before he seemed to snap out of his thoughts. He took a sandwich of his plate and fed it to the dog on his lap who munched it down happily before he was fed another one.  
The girl asked him something but the young detective answered her question with a nonchalant look and a small shrug.

"Back to my question," the boy drawled as he fed another sandwich to the pup.  
"Your reputation precedes you," Black Widow told him smoothly.  
"Of course it does," the detective said lightly with a sardonic smile, "who do you want to find."  
"A man," Natasha stated matter-of-factly, "by the name of Loki."  
The dog barked sharply and bared his teeth in an almost threatening way but the boy flicked him on his nose and hushed him like a father would scold his child.

"How _interesting_," the boy deadpanned without reacting on the name before he turned serious, "I'll need a last name, family ties, appearances, last place of sighting and the reason why you want to find him."  
"Name: Loki Odinson, though he does go by the name of 'Laufeyson'," the female agent told the young boy, "Thor here is his brother."  
Once again, the child showed no reaction whereas his brother would have exploded in rage.  
The boy relaxed back in his chair and gestured for her to go on.

Natasha opened her purse and took a folder with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it from within before she handed it to the boy. The girl rose from her seat and walked until she stood right behind him so she could see what was inside the folder.  
"He was last seen in his cell on Asgard – his home world," she continued even as the child opened the folder without even studying the logo and started to leaf through the papers, "we want to place him back inside his cell in which he had been placed for crimes against mankind."

The Loki in front of them closed the folder and placed it in front of him before he started to pet the dog again, "why do you think that I can find someone who was held prisoner on a mythical world?"  
"We suspect that he might have made his way to Earth," Natasha told him as she studied him sharply.  
The boy stopped his petting of the dog, leaned forward and rested his head on his entangled hands. He shot her a sharp, searching look no child should be capable of having and said almost darkly, "you suspect."  
Natasha's hand crept to the knife hidden under her dress but the boy's next words stopped her.

"I can't help you," he said sharply, his voice filled with distaste, "there is no evidence that the person you're seeking is on Earth and I do not have the time or the will to chase after a _myth_."  
Thor was about to open his mouth but Natasha stopped him with a raised hand.  
"Of course, we're sorry for bothering you," Natasha said with a small bow and she turned to leave the study. She stopped after a couple of paces, "by the way, I never caught your last name."  
"That's because I didn't give it," the boy said as he smiled the smile of a dragon – filled with too much teeth to be kind, "it's Náljarson."

Thor felt as if that name should mean something to him but he couldn't figure out what it was so he shook his head and followed the female warrior out of the door.  
The last thing he heard before the door closed behind them was a soft, "good day, Thor Odinson and Natasha Romanov. Good luck chasing your myth."  
He turned back around sharply and he narrowed his eyes at the wood. He was aware that _Loki_ knew that he would be the only one to hear those names.

"Thor, are you coming?" Natasha called up to him from the bottom of the stairs.  
"Coming!" he rumbled back.

**oOo  
**  
The flight back was spent in silence as Thor tried to make up his mind.  
The boy reminded him very much of his brother when he had been young: both were very smart, both unpredictable and with mood swings worse than a pregnant woman, both had the same sharp, emerald eyes. This child also seemed to like tricking people as much as his brother had.

But there were also differences. As far as he knew his Loki had always liked his black hair and slicked back as it made him different and he was never seen without Lævateinn. But this Loki didn't seem to care for his hair at all if the chaotic hairstyle was any indication and he had seen hide nor hair of the weapon.  
This Loki was also a child while his Loki had always wanted to be seen as an adult. And last but not least: this Loki seemed to care for humans while his Loki had always thought of them with disdain.

And then there were the things that didn't add up. The dog that seemed to understand everything they had said and the way the strange beast behaved, the secretive looks in the child's eyes as if he knew something they didn't and the too old and too wise eyes which were exactly the same as his brother's though less dark. The fact that he had known Black Widow's real name hadn't helped either.  
Not to mention the question of how his brother could be on two places at once, as even Thor knew that Loki's doubles were never as solid as the real one.

But that truly had been his brother, he knew that much.

**oOo  
**  
"And is the little detective our escapee?" was the first question they were asked as soon as they had landed.  
Everyone turned to Thor at Tony's question.

Thor hesitated for a bit before he finally answered.  
_":Yes,:"_he thought, _":yes, that boy is most likely my wayward brother.:"_  
"No," he said uncharacteristically softly, "no, this is just a young boy who has the same name."  
"Are you sure?" Natascha asked sceptically.  
"Yes, I'm sure," Thor said but his eyes wouldn't quite meet her eyes, _":I'm sure of the fact that that __is__ Loki.:"_

But he couldn't bring himself to sell out his brother, even though the other had almost destroyed New York and had killed a lot of people.  
They were gods and Loki's deeds hadn't been as bad as they could have been. Loki could have turned New York in a burning, ravaged place with just a single thought. He could have released his monstrous children upon the defenceless humans or he could have plunged them all in chaos. But he hadn't.  
Odin had only locked Loki away as punishment for endangering Asgard, almost killing the jötunn and for threatening Thor and the punishment for those crimes were mild. But Thor would never tell the Avengers that as they wouldn't understand.

"I entered the last name the boy gave you," Tony said and Thor shook himself out of his thoughts, "what does it mean?"  
"It means 'son of Nál'," Thor commented proudly for knowing something they did not know, "Nál must be his father's name."  
He noticed as Tony stiffened and quickly started to type on his screen.  
"What is it?" Steve demanded to know but Tony ignored him.

"Thor, are you completely sure that that boy is _not_ our Loki?" Tony finally said shakily after a couple of minutes.  
Thor nodded in confusion.  
"Nál is a frost giant – a jötunn," Tony said, "she is also known as Laufey. The boy's last name is thus 'Laufeyjarson' or 'Laufeyson'."

* * *

_Note: Loki is a very strange character in the Norse mythology. He is known by the names of Loki, Loptr (from the word 'lopt' which means air) or Hveðrungr_ _(which probably means 'roarer'). The only thing which is truly knows is that he is the blood-brother of Odin and the son of Fárbauti and Laufey (or Nál).  
__He is the father of Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Hel by the ogre Angrbo__ð__a, Narfi and Nari by Sigyn and Sleipnir by the stallion Sva__ð__ilfari. Beyond that: it's not quite sure what he was the god of. He might have been the god of fire and/ or air and he is known to be sly and a 'teasing creature of the night'. Some people compare him to the Trickster of the North American legends/ mythology.  
__The labels of 'God of Chaos' and 'God of Evil' have also been stuck to him, though I do not believe that the second one came originally from the myths as deities were rarely 'good' or 'evil'.  
__He can be both malevolent and benevolent and it's rather clear from the poems that he shares Odin's not quite muscularity (Odin is known to be a sei__ð__kona; some kind of witch) as he is the one to give birth to Sleipnir, he crossdresses willingly and he binds his own testicles to cheer someone up._

_I hope you liked this story (or drabbles)._

_Reviews are much appreciated._

_~Marwana_


End file.
